Moscow, 25 August 1998 (RFE/RL) - Three top Russian banks announced their merger today amid concerns that part of the banking sector is on the verge of collapse due to the country's on-going financial crisis. In a statement cited by Itar-Tass, Oneximbank, Menatep bank and Most bank said
they planned to form a holding company into which each of the banks will
contribute 51 percent of its charter capital. The banks are rated fourth,
seventh and seventeenth in Russia in terms of assets and are part of the business empires of three of Russia's most powerful business tycoons.

Meanwhile, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said today that eight to ten leading banks
in Moscow will pool their resources to protect the savings of Muscovites from
Russia's financial turmoil. He did not provide more details.

Russian government spokesman Vadim Birkin said Prime Minister-designate Viktor
Chernomyrdin has approved a plan to restructure the government's $40 billion
short-term debt. Aleksandr Pochinok, head of the government's financial
department, said the government would offer several options and that foreign and
domestic investors would be treated equally. The announcement of the terms of
the deal, which has already been postponed twice, is expected later today.

Chernomyrdin is pressing with his attempts to form a new government. Meeting
his political supporters in parliament, Chernomyrdin said that Russia needed "a
government of accord" in which ministers are chosen on the basis of their
professional qualities. The Communists -- the largest faction in the Duma -- have
long called for a coalition government but President Boris Yeltsin has ignored
their calls.

Also today the Russian ruble plummetted against the U.S. dollar on the
official Moscow Interbank Exchange. The ruble fell from 7.14 to the dollar at
the start of trading to 7.86 before noon, when trading was suspended for a
second time to try to brake the currency's fall. Just a week ago, the ruble
stood at 6.2 to the dollar.